


Desert Flowers

by Donotquestionme



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Babysitter Hulk, Fluff, Gen, Introspection, with a hint of sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-03-16
Packaged: 2018-01-10 21:22:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1164676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Donotquestionme/pseuds/Donotquestionme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a fight with Mole Man and his army of mutant sandworms, Hulk is trapped miles underground in Subterranea. What's worse is that a small girl is trapped down there with him. Hulk must protect the girl and find the way back to the surface before the deadly inhabitants of Subterranea finish them both off.</p><p>A prequel to my other fic - "<a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/1164393">Birthday</a><span>"</span></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Descent

"This is ridiculous." I grumbled.

 _"I won't argue with you there."_ came Bruce's disembodied response from within my head. I was sitting in the back of the quinjet. There had been an attack on Phoenix Arizona by what people had described as "huge burrowing worms" which were, besides just attacking people and property, causing mini-earthquakes that were causing major building collapses.

"Why are there always sandworms?" I complained. "In everything! You have sand? Here's some killer sandworms. What is this, Dune?

Tony laughed from the front of the plane. "I know what you mean, buddy. Apparently they're being led by some nut job who calls himself 'Mole Man'".

I groaned. " Sallat Allah bi-kaswatay-h al-jaam." I muttered under my breath.

 _"That was impressive."_ Bruce commented from in my mind. _"I didn't know you knew any Fremen."_

"Just that." I mumbled. "It seemed prudent."

 _"Did you read Dune yourself or is that just from my memories?"_  Bruce was always interested in how our minds interconnected. Ever since we'd made peace with each other's existence, we'd started to gain greater access to each other's memories.  I could now remember Bruce's childhood (for better or worse) and Bruce could remember the frantic first years of my life, though those memories were fragmented and blurred, even to me.

I didn't respond to Bruce's question. If I kept talking, it would become apparent to the other Avengers in the jet that I wasn't talking to them or just commenting to no one. I didn't like to remind them that Bruce and I could communicate even when not the controlling personality. I'd just end up being a go-between for Bruce and the team, which I hated. I looked like a crazy person talking to myself and like an idiot trying to parrot back everything the Bruce said, as long winded and wordy as he was.  Even worse, the other members of the team might ask _my_ thoughts when Bruce was in control. It was just a gesture. I knew that. No one really cared about my opinion outside of a fight. Not to mention that Bruce tended to censor me or lie when I didn't have anything to say. The whole thing was embarrassing.

"Welp." came Clint's voice from the cockpit. "There's your problem."

I gazed out of the window to see the chaos below.

It certainly looked like the epicenter of an earthquake. Huge fissures split the ground into jagged cliffs and deep crevices.  Enormous holes in the pavement and asphalt spilled sand onto the street. Many of the buildings were either damaged or destroyed. Crowds of screaming people fled from crumbling buildings and overturned cars.

"The seismic readings are off the charts!" Tony exclaimed, looking at the screen in the jet's dash in front of him.

"But where are the worms?" Steve asked.

"There." Natasha said, pointing.

Following her finger, I saw a writhing mound of sand. It slithered along the ground, towards a group of people who were huddled around an overturned car. Most ran off when they saw the approaching mass, but a few stayed. They looked to be frantically trying to flip or lift the car.

 _"Oh God."_ Bruce whispered. _"There's someone underneath."_

"There's someone underneath the car." I parroted.

"Take us down now, Clint." Cap ordered.

Just then, the mound of sand exploded open, as the worms head jutted out from under the earth. Its mouth was a gaping maw with circular rows of sharp teeth. It let out an earth shaking roar.

"Odin's Beard!" Odin cried. "Look at the size of it! I did not know that Midgard housed monstrosities of this size anymore."

"It's mouth alone must be a yard across." Clint added but I didn't hear it. I had already opened the side hatch of the jet.

Wind roared through the ship. I did a quick analysis to determine my trajectory , then jumped from the plane.

I came down on the worm, hard, sending its head crashing into the ground. I felt its outer shell crack, but it wasn't finished yet. The worm lunged upwards, throwing me off of its back. I rolled as I hit the ground, softening the impact and helping me get back on my feet faster.

When I got to my feet, the worm was jut shaking off the first attack. It turned to me and shrieked once more before charging headlong at me. I focused on what Natasha had taught me. Firm stance. Shoulders down. Use its weight and momentum against it.

I held firm until its teeth were less than a foot from my face, before turning to the side and grabbing hold of the writhing creature from slightly underneath.

Pulling down and bending my knees, I flipped the enormous beast over my shoulder, once more slamming its head onto the ground, pulling its remaining length from the ground as I did so. It must has been at least twenty feet long. It was heavy, even for me. Its tough shell shattered against the pavement. It twitched once before falling still. This time, it was down for the count.

I took only a moment to catch my breath, then went to the overturned car. A woman crouched beside it, clutching the hands of the man trapped beneath, who appeared to be conscious and mostly unharmed. I carefully lifted the car and placed it to the side. Both man and woman gazed at me, eyes wide with terror. Terror for me or the worm, I didn't know and didn't really care to know.

"Can you walk?" I asked the man gruffly.

The woman helped him to his feet and he shakily replied. "I-I think so."

"Then get out of here."

They both nodded, still in shock, and made for a safer area, the woman supporting the limping man over her shoulder.

A noise of jet exhaust made me turn. Tony, in full Iron Man armor, clanked down beside me.

"What'd we miss?" he asked.

The rest of the team also gathered around me.

"Sorry for the wait." Clint said "It can be a real pain to find a parking spot in the city."

"Hmph." I huffed. I wasn't in the mood for Clint's sass.

He slapped my arm in a congratulatory manner. "Quick thinking there, Jade Jaws." I ignored it.

"What are we up against here?" Cap asked.

"They've got a tough outer shell and move faster than you'd expect but their insides looked weak enough." I said. " I'd say the mouth is the main weak point. Focusing attack there is probably the best strategy. No apparent eyes or ears, probably rely on vibrations to find their way around. Staying off the ground  would provide a tactical advantage. It may also be useful for getting civilians out of harms way." I avoided making eye contact as I gave my analysis. I didn't much care for the faint look of disbelief on the team's face every time I said something halfway smart. Most likely they just thought I was repeating what Bruce was saying to me.

"Call it, Cap."  Tony said.

Steve surveyed the scene quickly, then said "Iron Man, take to the skies and see if you can spot this 'Mole Man'. We take him out, we shut this whole thing down. Widow and I will start a sweep on street level. Hulk and Thor, take down as many of these things as you can. Help support structures if you can, otherwise bring them down before they bring themselves down. Hawkeye, take the hover scooter and assist any civilians out of the danger-area."

"Civi evac?" Clint scoffed. "Lame."

"Let's move out!" Cap ordered.

It didn't take long to find another worm to take out. The things were everywhere. Luckily, they were weak enough for Thor and I to take them out individually, allowing us to split up and cover more ground.

As my fist connected with the head of the forth worm I faced, the force sent it crashing into an empty ten story building. The brick structure shook, dust and crumbling brick were knocked off.

 _"Be careful!"_ Bruce urged. _"Everything here is on the verge of collapse, even the ground."_

"I already knew that!" I snapped back.

I was angry at him for lecturing me, but mostly I was angry at myself.  I had been careless and now this building would have to come down before it put anyone in danger.

Intelligence is nice, on the whole, but it's less fun when that intelligence lets you realize that you're a walking repair bill.

I scanned the building and instantly found its weak points: where I had to hit it to get it to fall the way I wanted it to. Before I could hit anything, though, I felt a rumbling in the ground more intense than any caused by the worms previously. It nearly knocked me off my feet.

 _"Did they trigger another earthquake?"_ Bruce suggested.

"I don't think--" I was cut off by a shrill cry behind me.

I turned quickly to see a small girl, no older than 6, pointing and screaming. Her dark skin was stained with dirt and tears. Her hair, black, curly and pulled back into two pigtails was coated with dust.

At first I thought she was screaming out of fear of me, but I then glanced behind me. The building I had weakened had been completely unbalanced by the tremor and was going to collapse right on top of us.

Without even thinking, I jumped to the girl, wrapping my arms around her and shielding her from the debris only moments before impact. The front-most wall of the building crashed over my back and into the building adjacent from it. Brick scattered everywhere and dust filled the air. Once the dust settled and I was confident that it was safe, I unwrapped my arms. The girl looked up from her cowering position to look me in the eye. She screamed again.

"No! No no no!" she shrieked. She used one of her tiny hands to slap at me, the other held a bright purple flower, which she held as far away from me as her small arms would allow, as if she feared I would steal it.

"Ack!" I grunted. "Listen, kid, I'm trying to help you here! Where ar--" I was cut off yet again, this time by a cacophonous noise. A worm, over five times the size of any I'd seen already erupted from beneath the pavement, sending cars, bricks, and other debris flying in all directions. The cracked ground beneath my feet gave way, sending the girl and I plummeting downwards. I grabbed her again and pulled her into a protective embrace as we plunged into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first multi-chapter fic in a long time. Prequel to "[Birthday](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1164393)", explaining some events that were mentioned in the first fic.  
> Still set in the future of the MCU where Hulk and Bruce have made peace with each other. 
> 
> Sorry the chapter is a bit short. I'm really not good at writing long works.
> 
> First one to translate what Hulk said in Fremen gets the prize of knowing what Hulk said in Fremen, which, believe me, is a reward in and of itself.  
> I don't actually know any Fremen off the top of my head, and I've only read the beginning of Dune but I found that phrase while doing research for the fic and it was too perfect to pass up.  
> I also don't actually know if sandworms are among the various Subterranea mutant creatures that Mole Man can control but I wanted sandworms so...


	2. Spelunking for Dummies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hulk says "kid" a lot and the words "tremor", "passage", and "cavern" are probably a bit overused.

I braced for impact for what seemed like an eternity, the girl still clutched tight to my chest. I made sure that I was angled facing with my back to the ground, so I would get the brunt of the impact and not her. Finally we hit ground, hard.

Groaning, I heaved myself upright, putting the girl down next to me.  It was pitch dark. I fumbled blindly through the pockets on my belt. They were usually used to store things like Bruce's glasses, but sometimes also had other useful things. Finally I found what I was looking for. I pulled the emergency glow stick out of the pouch and cracked it a few times to activate it.

The room was bathed in a florescent, yellow light. I held the glow stick up to illuminate our surroundings. We were in a small cavern. The ceiling was just high enough for me to stand upright in. Branching out from the cavern were two tunnels going in opposite directions.

I looked up to where we'd fallen from, but the tremor caused by the worm had already closed up the path to the surface.

I turned to the girl. She was shaking, eyes wide, the flower still clutched tightly in her hand. She didn't seem hurt, just a bit shaken.

"You ok, kid?" I asked, but she just stared at me, still wide eyed and shaking.

I groaned again and got to my feet.

"Great." I said aloud. "This is just what I needed today."

I reached in my pocket again and pulled out my Avenger's ID card. Stark had designed all of our ID cards to work as communication devices, but they weren't always the most reliable. I pressed the sensor pad next to my picture and said "Hulk calling anyone. Do you copy?"

Static.

"No bars underground I guess." I sighed.

I rubbed my eyes and looked back at the ceiling.

"Maybe I could bust up through to the surface?" I wondered aloud.

 _"Not wise."_ Bruce answered _"There's no telling where you are. You could destabilize more structures, putting people in danger. Also..."_ he paused anxiously. _"The girl would likely not survive."_

"Of course." I said dryly. "So what do you propose , _Einstein_?"

 _"There may be another exit somewhere in these caverns."_  He replied, seeming unfazed by my jab. _"I would definitely get out of this room, though. It's likely highly unstable."_

He was probably right, thought idea of wandering around in cramped darkness was less than pleasant. I wasn't a big fan of confined spaces, for more than one reason.

I turned to the girl again.

"Listen, kid. We have to move now. Can you walk?" I asked, doing my best to sound reassuring.

She stood up, but only looked at her feet.  "My daddy says not to go with strangers."

I rubbed my temples in irritation.

" _Alright_." I strained, my calm facade starting to crumble. "Well, you got a name?"

"Tammy."

"Well 'Tammy'. My name is Hulk and I have no intention of hurting you and my favorite color is _anything but green_." I said. "There. Now you know more about me than most of the living world. Hardly strangers now, wouldn't you say?"

I kneeled down to look her in the eye, but she only took a nervous step backwards.

"Listen, kid." I said shortly, my patience wearing thin. "Either you can walk out of here or I can carry you out by the hair."

She took another step backwards, her eyes welling up with tears. "Nooo!" she moaned.

I let out an exasperated breath and stood up, facing away from the sniffling girl.

 _"Threatening a scared child. Smart."_ Bruce quipped.

" She's being unreasonable." I retorted.

_"She's a child."_

"What do you want from me?"

_"Try to be less threatening."_

I gave a look to the open air. Bruce knew it was directed at him.

"And how _exactly_ am I supposed to do that, O Wise One?" I asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

 _"You could smile, for one."_ Bruce suggested.

"I've been told my smile is 'uniquely terrifying'." I huffed angrily. "Why can't you just do this if you know so much about kids?"

 _"The walls and ceiling here could collapse at any second. We can't risk it."_ He paused for a moment. _"...and you know that I don't know anything about kids."_

I closed my eyes for a second, to focus.

No sound of running water. No help there. There was no light either. No signs of which way was up and out.

Wait...

I licked my finger and held up.

Yes!

There was a faint but distinct breeze coming from the tunnel opening to our right. That was probably our best bet but there was still the question of getting the girl to move. I could just carry her but, if she screamed, it could draw out more worms or whatever other creatures lurked in this darkness.

"Welp." I said, putting my hands on my hips. "I don't have time for this." I started walking towards the right hand passage.

"Have fun in the dark, kid. I hear the worms love little critters like you...you know, for lunch." As I got a few feet away, Bruce buzzed angrily.

_"What are you doing? You're NOT leaving her here!"_

I ignored him and kept walking. Once I was around a corner, I stopped and covered the glow stick with my huge palms, plunging everything into darkness. I waited for a few seconds before uncovering it.

As if on cue, pattering footsteps hurried towards me.

"No! No!" the girl squealed. "Don't leave! I'll come!"

"Smart kid." I said, smiling wryly.

Bruce pouted. I wasn't sure if it was because he disagreed with my methods or because he was upset he didn't think of it first.

__

We walked for a long time in silence, I in slightly in front, the girl close at my side, her feet scurrying to keep up with my long strides.

 _"Slow up a bit."_ Bruce urged. _"She can barely keep up."_

"She's fine." I replied curtly. "We need to keep moving. This place could come crumbling down any second, remember? Plus, the glow stick is already starting to fade. If it goes out before we find the surface, we're dead. "

"Who are you talking to?" the girl chimed.

It startled me and I jumped a bit. She hadn't spoken a word since agreeing to follow me.

" _No-one_." I emphasized.

Bruce scoffed.

"Oh..." the girl said.

There was another silence.

"Is it God?" she asked.

Bruce snorted with laughter.

"NO." I exclaimed, trying to ignore Bruce's chuckling.

"Oh...Is it--"

"LISTEN." I interrupted. "It's like...a guy who lives in my head and talks to me sometimes I guess..." God that sounded stupid out loud.

"Oh!" she chimed. "Like an imaginary friend?"

"Sure."

"I had an imaginary friend once. Her name was Casey." she continued, sounding cheerier. "What's yours's?"

"Bruce." I said flatly, if only to get her to stop pestering me.

"Hello, Bruce!" she said brightly, waving at the air next to me."

 _"Tell her I said 'Hello'!"_ Bruce urged.

I sighed.

"Bruce says 'hi'." I grumbled, between clenched teeth.

The girl giggled. "What's your favorite color?" she asked excitedly.

 _"Tell her--"_ Bruce started, but I cut him off.

"No!" I barked. "I'm not doing this 'he said, she said' bullshit with you guys!"

The girl gasped. "No potty language!" she scolded.

 _"I thought that was only with the team. I didn't realize it bothered you so much."_ Bruce said, sounding annoyingly sympathetic.

"Well it does, ok? It's embarrassing." I snapped.

 _"No one cares if you don't copy me exactly."_ Bruce reassured _"I know I can be a little wordy."_

"It's not that!" I said, exasperatedly. "It's--" I exhaled sharply. "Nothing. Never mind."

"You don't like to talk for Bruce?" Tammy asked.

"No." I answered curtly. 

"Why?" she inquired, her young voice also sounding annoyingly sympathetic.

"I just DON'T, ok?" I snapped.

"Oh..."she said, sounding meek.

There was another long silence. I considered apologizing. It wasn't her I was mad at.

"It's ok when you don't want to talk about stuff sometimes." the girl said, breaking the silence. "My mom used to say--"

I stopped and held up a hand to silence her. "Kid, stop talking."

 _"Hulk!"_ Bruce scolded.

"No. Shh. Listen. Do you hear that?" I strained my ears to hear better.

There was a distinct scuttling sound coming from the dark passage behind us. It was faint, but it was getting louder quickly.

"Alight, time to move." I said and grabbed the kid around the waist, lifting her into my arms.

The sudden movement startled her. She let out a yelp and dropped her flower in surprise.

"My flower!" she cried.

"Forget it, kid. We need to move." I urged and took off down the tunnel.

"No!" she squealed and squirmed out of my grip, sprinting back to where we had been.

"Slippery little-- Hey, come back!" I shouted but she ignored me, disappearing around a corner.

"Damn it!" I huffed, and took off after her.

I couldn't move at full speed in the narrow passages and, by the time I got to her, only moments later, the scuttling was loud and close.

The girl knelt down and scooped up her flower from the ground.

"Kid!" I yelled, as the glow of the glow stick illuminated the source of the noise.

She looked up, straight into the grasping mandibles of an enormous ant. She screamed and fell back, arms flailing.

The oversized insect lunged for her, jaws gnashing.

"TAMMY!" I cried.

An instant before the beast's mandibles closed around her head, I slammed my fist into the ant's side, crushing it into the wall.

"You got some kind of death wish, kid?" I panted.

The walls shook and dust fell from the ceiling. The glow stick shone down the passage, illuminating the beady eyes and dripping jaws of dozens, hundreds even, of ants the size of mastiffs.

"Shit." I breathed.

"No potty mouth!" the kid scolded again.

 _"There's no room to fight!"_ Bruce exclaimed.

"Time to go." I said, scooping the girl into my arms, this time making sure she couldn't squirm out, and took off in the opposite direction of the arthropodean horde. The narrow corridor made it difficult to run and it was only getting narrower. I could hear the ants, right on our tail.

Suddenly the passageway came to a dead end. I skidded to a halt, almost plowing right into it.  The pathway was filled with stone, but it wasn't part of the natural formation.

 _"The tremor must have caused a rockslide, blocking the way!"_ Bruce cried.

Holes in the blockage blew in a faint breeze. There another room on the other side, I was sure of it, but busting through could collapse the whole cavern.

"Shit!" I said again, glancing over my shoulder at the oncoming horde.

"No potty language!" the girl insisted for a third time.

"Yeah, yeah!" I said, facing forward again and winding up for a punch. "I got it!"

I sent my fist crashing into the stone at full speed. Rock exploded outwards, filling the air with a thick cloud of dust. I ran blindly into the next room. The narrow passage opened outwards into an enormous cavern.

I put Tammy down and shoved the glow stick into her hands. "Go!" I commanded. "I'll deal with the ants!"

She hesitated.

"I'm right behind you, just RUN!" I yelled.

With one glance back, she ran away from the swarming invertebrate mass behind us.

I punched the wall by the opening and the passage shook again, more rocks breaking off from the ceiling and walls. I pulled my arm back to deliver the blow that would collapse the passage and seal the entrance but one of the dislodged stones, roughly the size of a television, came crashing down onto my head, staggering me for just a second. But it was enough.

Once of the ants chomped its mandibles down on my right forearm, throwing my off balance. Another rammed into my chest, knocking me to the ground. Once I was prone, the other ants started to swarm on top of me, their razor sharp jaws clamping onto my tough, green skin.

I flailed my arms, trying to find purchase, but there were too many.

Eaten alive by ants. How clichéd. I probably wouldn't die, but Tammy would be bones long before I grew back all my organs.

Damn it.

Suddenly a shrill cry rang out in the chamber. "Leave him alone!" followed by a clacking sound as a rock bounced off of the carapace of an ant atop my chest.

I strained my neck to see Tammy with a handful of rocks, throwing them at the swarm.

The ants paused for a split second, some branching off to pursue this new assailant . Tammy screamed and took a few, frantic steps backwards.

"Tammy!" I cried.

The ants had only been distracted for a moment, but it was all I needed. I kicked out with my foot, slamming my heel into the wall. The weakened stone finally gave way, cascading down and crushing the ants still in the passageway. I threw off the ants holding me down, splattering them against the wall. I immediately turned to Tammy.

A lone remaining ant scurried after her. She was back stepping quickly, still throwing rocks at her pursuer when she suddenly tripped backwards. She let out a shrill scream as the ant's jaws opened wide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like ending chapters on cliff-hangers. It makes me laugh.
> 
> I may or may not have learned everything I know about telling which way is out of a cave from Skyrim. 
> 
> Also enter the ants. I know for a fact that there are giant ants in Subterranea. I did a google search, I know what I'm talking about here.  
> Other Subterranea inhabitants not featured in this fic:  
> -Moloids : because they kinda creep me out.  
> -Tyrranus - because he's a douche.  
> I will admit, I ran out of interesting ways to refer to a bunch on ants pretty quick.
> 
> Sorry again for the shortness of the chapter. I'm really not good at filling page space. 
> 
> No more Dune references this chapter. I feel like I've mislead you all about how many Dune references would be in this fic. If you didn't look up what the Dune reference in the last chapter translated to, I encourage it. I'll tell you right now, it is a gem.


	3. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hulk continues to say "kid", "listen", and "sure" a lot.

I launched myself into the air and crashed down on the bug just as its mandibles started to close. A mix of yellow and green insect blood and guts splattered onto Tammy's face and clothes. We both panted for a moment.

"That was really stupid, you know that, kid?" I demanded.

The girl looked at her toes, as if ashamed.

My expression softened. I patted her head.

"Pretty brave, too." I said.

Tammy looked up and blinked, then smiled brightly.

I looked around and it occurred to me that I could see, even with the loss of the emergency glow stick. It also occurred to me that this was something I should have noticed earlier, but I had been being eaten by ants so I figured I could let myself off easy for that one. I looked around for the source of light.

On the walls and ceiling, were patches of blue light.

"Daylight?" I wondered aloud, then I noticed patches of the same light on the floor of the cavern.

 _"Bioluminescence..."_ Bruce said in awe. _"The fungus has developed a brilliant bioluminescence. And look!"_

I looked around the enormous cavern. Large shapes I had assumed to be columns and stalagmites were actually huge mushrooms, some as tall as trees. They also emitted a faint glow. Other smaller fungi littered the ground.

 _"It's like an underground forest."_ Bruce marveled. _"Who would have thought such an advanced and unexplored ecosystem existed right under our noses?"_

"A couple dozen miles under our noses." I added.

I turned to Tammy, who was trying to wipe some of the bug guts off onto her pants.

"Let's take a break, yeah?" I suggested. "I think I hear water. You can get washed up and I'll see if I can get a fire started. Let's hope glowing mushrooms are flammable."

As luck would have it, they were.

After cleaning up, Tammy and I sat by the fire. She was twirling her flower in her hand, admiring it.

"So what's with the flower anyway?" I asked.

"It's for my mom." Tammy replied." We used to pick these all the time together. My daddy and I were going to visit her when the shaking started. Then we got split up."

"She doesn't live with you, then?" I asked.

"No." she said, sounding sad. "Not anymore." she smiled again "But I visit her all the time! What about you? Do you visit you mom a lot?"

I shifted uncomfortably. "Uh...sorta. Once. But it...uh...it didn't really go well. I...don't really want to talk about it."

We sat there in silence for a moment, with only sound the sound of the water flowing through the small stream and the crackling sounds of the fire.

"Is 'Hulk' short?" Tammy asked.

"What?"

"Like, 'Tammy' is short. For Tamika."

"Oh." I said. "No. It's just 'Hulk'."

"What about a last name?"

I considered saying "Banner" for a moment but it didn't feel right. "I... guess I don't really have one." I shrugged. "It's just 'Hulk'."

"Oh." Tammy nodded knowingly. "Like 'Cher'."

This time I was the one who snorted with laughter.

"You're the first one to put it that way, but I suppose so." I chuckled. "Though, I have been called 'The Incredible Hulk' or, on occasion, 'The Indestructible Hulk'." I smiled.

Tammy giggled. "You should smile more often. You're always frowning on T.V."

"I've been told my smile is 'uniquely terrifying'." I said, wryly.

"You look scary when you frown." she stated, playing with the laces on her shoes.

I huffed. "I _am_ scary." I said, with an air of mock pride.

"No." she said. "Just grouchy, I think."

"Hmm. Maybe true." I admitted. "But you wouldn't like me when I'm grouchy."

Tammy giggled again. "That's worse than the jokes my dad makes!"

I chuckled. A distant rumbling shook the ground.

"We'd better keep moving." I noted, getting to my feet.

Tammy followed suit.

I picked up one of the smaller glowing mushrooms, inspecting it.  "This will have to do for light." I said, mostly to myself.

"Which way do we go?" Tammy asked.

"Well," I said, pointing in the direction that the stream was flowing from. "Water flows downhill so, if we follow where the water is coming from, it should lead us toward the surface...in theory."

The tunnel where the stream was coming from was smaller than the cavern we were in, but it was still much wider than the passage we'd started in. The ceiling was over 20 feet high and the walls over 15 feet apart. Plenty of room to fight, if need be and I had a feeling there would probably be a need. The stream flowed down the middle of the passage, dividing it in half. The rocks on both sides of the water were wet and slick with mold and slime, which was unpleasant to walk through barefoot. Sometimes I regretted not wearing shoes.

I still led the way, holding the mushroom in front of me like a torch, and keeping a close eye out for more bugs.

Tammy slipped on a particularly slippery patch of stone, but I caught her before she hit the ground.

"You ok there, kid?" I asked.

"Yeah." she said wearily, and yawned widely.

"I can carry you if you're tired." I offered.

"But then wouldn't you be tired?" she asked.

I scoffed. "Haven't you heard?" I asked "I'm the strongest one there is. I could carry ten of you and not break a sweat." I curled a bicep for emphasis. "It'd be faster anyway."

She relented and let me pick her up. I slung her over my shoulder, 'captured princess' style.

"Hey!" she giggled.

I chuckled as well before shifting her into a more comfortable position.

She glanced at her flower for a moment. "Hold on." she said and stuck the stem of the flower behind my ear.

"For safe keeping." she explained.

"Yeah, sure, kid." I laughed.

She rested her head against my shoulder. "Promise you won't lose it?" she said, her eyes drifting shut.

I crossed my heart with my free hand, careful not to hit her with the mushroom I was holding in it.

"We'll get this plant to your mom. Scout's honor." I said "Where does she live, anyway?" but the small girl was already asleep.  I could hear her tiny, rhythmic breaths.

My heart clenched in my chest uncomfortably. I grimaced.

Bruce chuckled lightly.

I scowled.

"What's so funny?" I whispered, so as not to wake the sleeping child in my arms.

"You." was all Bruce said in reply.

I rolled my eyes. Bruce could be annoyingly cryptic. It annoyed me that he always seemed to know what I was thinking, but I could never puzzle out his feeling and thoughts.

I continued in silence for a while, following the stream until the path came to a fork. The stream flowed from both sides so it was no help.

I paused and shrugged with my free hand, looking up into the corner of my eye, as if I could see into my own mind to give Bruce an expecting look.

 _"Don't look at me."_ Bruce said. _"I don't know."_

I made a face.

 _"Hey, I'm a physicist, not a speleologist."_ he retorted.

I sighed and lifted the mushroom up to illuminate the rightmost tunnel. It was identical to the path we were on for a while, but after a few hundred feet, masses of a white stringy substance coated the walls.

Spider web.

"Ha ha. No thanks." I laughed softly. "I choose life." and turned to the other passage. It seemed clear.

As I started down the webless passage, I felt Tammy stir in my arms. At first I thought she was starting to wake up, but when I looked down at her, her eyes were clamped shut and she was shivering. He breathing became erratic and she clutched right against herself. She started to sniffle and I realized she was crying.

"Mommy..." she whimpered.

"Ah!" I exclaimed quietly.

 _"A nightmare?"_ Bruce suggested, sounding as confused and nervous as I felt.

I was completely unprepared for this.

"You..you stop that." I said, still reeling for a solution.

I had stopped walking. I didn't know why this was bothering me so much. She wasn't even crying that loudly.  It would likely not attract any more bugs but, for some reason, I just wanted it to _stop._

I thought about holding her tighter to comfort her. But what if I held her _too_ tightly? What if I crushed her?"

Suddenly just her being in my arms at all seemed dangerous.

 _Maybe I should wake her?_ I thought, but that seemed like a bad idea.

What could someone, some _thing_ like me do to comfort a crying child?

Part of me wanted to harden my heart and ignore it, but something about her sobs struck a chord in me. Her sadness seemed so familiar to me.  What did people usually do to calm kids?

Then I had a stupid idea.

So stupid, that I thought to outright discard it, but I couldn't think of anything better.

"When-When everyone has gone to sleep," I said. It was too plain, there was no tone. No inflection.

"And you are wide awake," I continued, this time trying to hold a bit more of a tune, but I could commit to trying for the notes.

"There's no one left to tell your troubles to."

This was silly. I didn't sing.

 Ever.

I'd never even tried. It seemed like something that would so obviously fail that I had just spared myself the embarrassment of even trying. Now, with my voice clumsily trying to follow a tune without actually singing, I felt my fears were probably justified.

I sighed, embarrassed. I felt like the eyes of the world were on me, laughing mockingly at the brutish monster trying to do something beautiful. I cringed at the thought of what the team would say if they were here.

But they weren't here.

No one was.

Just me and hundreds of miles of cold stone.

And one crying girl in my arms.

"Just an hour ago, you listened to their voices, lilting like a river over underground." This line I sang, letting my voice actually follow the melody.

"And the light from downstairs cam up fast like daybreak, dimly as the heartache of a lonely child."

Bruce joined me for the next line, his voice soft and without judgment.

"And if you can't remember a better time, you can have mine, little one. In days to come, when your heart feels undone, may you always find an open hand. Take comfort where ever you can. You can. You can..." My voice trailed off and I looked to Tammy again.

Her breathing had evened out and she no longer seemed to be crying.

I exhaled a sigh of relief.

 _"You sing well."_ Bruce said.

"Oh please." I scoffed.

 _"No, really."_ he insisted. _"...I've never heard you sing before."_

"Well savor it, because it's _never_ happening again." I growled, a flush rising to my cheeks.

 _"I meant no offence..."_ Bruce said softly.

I looked ahead and saw a dim light coming from farther on in the tunnel. Not daylight, probably another open cavern. I started towards it.

 _"Does any of this seem odd to you?"_ Bruce asked.

"What? This place? Nooo." I said dryly. "Just your average everyday secret underground labyrinth filled with giant insects and sandworms the size of school buses. Nothing out of the ordinary here."

 _"I mean the tunnels themselves."_ Bruce clarified.

"What about them?"

_"Well, look at how smooth they are. No jagged outcropping so tight squeezes."_

"That first tunnel was a bit too tight for comfort." I pointed out.

 _"For someone of your size maybe."_ Bruce said. _"The width of the tunnels is too consistent as well. It just doesn't seem like a natural formation."_

"Hmph. Thought you said you weren't an expert?" I huffed. "Maybe the worms dug them as they moved around."

 _"Maybe."_ Bruce said. " _But then why are they all flat with no loops, plummets, or steep rises? It seems like they were made to be walked through."_

"You think maybe Mole Man had them dig these so he could sneak around?" I suggested.

 _"No."_ Bruce said. _"There are too many, and they're too old."_

"So you think that they were made on purpose, but not by Mole Man. Who then?"

_"I don't know."_

Just then, I stepped in something sticky that sent a shiver up my spine. I stopped to look down at what I stepped in.

A thick cord of spider web stuck to the underside of my foot.

"Yuck." I whispered, kicking it off. Then I noticed that the clump of web seemed to be covering something.

Without really thinking, I kicked away the patch of webbing.

"Uh oh." I said.

Underneath was a small skeleton. Too small to be a human. Or, at least an _adult_ human.

Tammy stirred again, her eyes fluttering open.

"What is it?" she asked, yawning.

"Nothing." I said, hurriedly, kicking the tiny remains into the stream so she wouldn't see them.

"Nothing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone wondering, the song Hulk sings is "Comfort" by Deb Talan and it is a beautiful song that I highly recommend. Don't ask me where Hulk learned it, you don't know the contents of his iPod.


	4. Things Lost

We reached the clearing in a matter of minutes. By that time, Tammy was completely awake.

"Let me down." she said. "I can walk."

"You sure?" I asked. "It doesn't bother me to carry you."

"No. I wanna walk!" she insisted. "I'm not a baby."

"Ok, sure kid." I said with a slight smile, and put her down.

She stretched and yawned.

"Where are we?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Hmm..."I said, surveying our surroundings. "If I had to take a guess, I'd probably say..underground."

Tammy giggled. "You silly! I meant _where_  underground? Are we close to overground?"

I shrugged and made an "I don't know" kind of noise.

Tammy frowned, looking disappointed.

"Uh-- I mean-- I'm sure we're pretty close now. We just need to keep following the...oh..."   I trailed off. The path where the river was flowing from narrowed drastically in front of us, the water spilling out from only a small opening about a meter long and only a few feet high.

"Uh..." I put my hands on my hips. "This might be a bit harder than I thought."

Tammy reached up to tap my arm. "What if...what if we never find out way out?" she asked softly.

"What? Of course we will." I said, kneeling down to her level.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I promised I'd get you and this flower to your mom." I said, pointing to the flower still stuck behind my ear. "And I don't go back on my promises."

Tammy nodded and smiled.

"Let's keep moving." I said, and stood back up to my full height.

"But which way do we go?"

"Umm...Let's start with getting to the other side of this clearing." I suggested. "If we're lucky, there may be a clue as to which way to go there."

Newly reenergized by her nap, Tammy took great interest in our surroundings, running back and forth looking at all the various types of fungi.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you." I warned. "A lot of mushrooms are poisonous." I didn't know how accurate  "a lot" was but it seemed  better to be safe than sorry.

"You're holding one." Tammy pouted, drawing away from the glittering blue mushroom she had been staring at.

"I'm pretty much indestructible." I stated. "You? Not so much."

"What does that mean? In-des..."

"Indestructible? " I finished her question. "It means I can't be hurt." I thought for a moment, then corrected myself. "Well... it means I can't be destroyed. I can still get hurt. Not from this, though. " I gestured at the mushroom I was holding.

"What then?"

"Morbid aren't we?" I smiled, amused. "Well, let's see...I don't particularly like being stabbed. Or shot. Or _hit in the face."_ I listed. I thought back to my first encounter with Thor, when he'd struck me across the face with Mjölnir. It was one of the first times I'd ever really been hurt. Sure, I'd felt pain before, but, besides my fight with Blonsky, nothing that could even really give me pause, certainly nothing like being hit full force by a god's magic hammer.   It hadn't been a pleasant experience.  

Tammy was silent. She looked down at her toes.

I raised an eyebrow. "You ok there, kid?" I asked.

"I'm sorry I hit you..." she whispered.

"Huh?" I asked, not understanding at first. "Oh, when we first met? No no, I wasn't talking about that I-- Don't worry about it, I couldn't even feel it."

She didn't look up.

"Listen, you were scared. Sometimes people do things when they're scared that...that they don't really mean."

I sighed. "Trust me, I know how that is."

Suddenly I realized I had been talking a lot lately. It was unlike me. I cleared my throat self consciously.

"So...uh...Yeah. Apology accepted...or whatever." I said, dismissively.  As I did, I felt a small rock fall on the top of my head.

"Ack." I rubbed my head and looked up to where it fell from.

The ceiling of the cavern was nearly a hundred feet high and dark save for a few patches of bioluminescent fungus.  I narrowed my eyes and focused.

One of the patches of light disappeared for just a moment.  As if something had crawled in front of it.

"Tammy." I said, lowering my voice. "Come back over to me, ok?"

The girl quickly obeyed, scurrying behind one of my legs.

 "What is it?" she asked, sounding frightened.

"Nothing." I assured. "Just stay close."

She reached out and grabbed my hand.

I thought to pull away, but decided against it. I took her hand, my huge hand enveloping her small one. I had to crouch a bit to hold on to her hand without lifting her up, but I found I didn't mind it, surprisingly.

A loose stone falling from one of the walls spooked Tammy and she squeezed my hand. My heart lurched and I felt the slow building of my own anxiety.

Was I holding her hand too tightly? Should I be crouching more?

I tried to dispel the worries and focus on the path ahead. I glanced to the ceiling again. I couldn't tell if the patches of light were flickering or if my eyes were just playing tricks on me. I tried not to spend too much time looking up. If it was nothing, I didn't want to spook Tammy. The last thing I needed was he to get too scared to walk or worse, try to run off. 

After a number of anxious minutes, we reached the opposite side of the chamber we were in.

"Shi--" I stopped abruptly and corrected myself, not wanting to be reprimanded. "Shoot."

In front of us, there was only a sheer drop, stretching the entirety of the far wall of the chamber. I leaned over the edge to try to see the bottom, but there was only blackness.

Tammy tried to look as well, but I pushed her back, away from the edge. I let go of her hand to pick up a small pebble and drop it into the darkness. I strained my ears to hear the pebble hit the bottom, but it never came.

I took a few steps back, pulling Tammy farther from the cliff.

"So much for 'no sharp drops'." I groaned.

 _"This whole chamber is different from the others."_ Bruce noted. _"The walls aren't as smooth and the path isn't as well defined."_

"So our mystery builders didn't make this?"

 _"Not necessarily. "_ He replied. ” _It may have just not been tended to in a while."_

"So they abandoned it?" I asked.

_"Or were forced to abandon it."_

"Why would--" I was cut off by a scream from Tammy.

She pointed to the edge of the ravine.

A fuzzy insect-like leg reached up from the darkness and onto the ground, followed by several more.

"Get back." I said, pushing Tammy behind me, and away from the approaching beast.  

Eight huge legs pulled up the body of an enormous spider, 10 feet tall at its highest point. It bared it's fangs, which were both nearly as long as Tammy's arms when fully extended. They dripped with a green venom.

"I'm getting really tired of these giant insects." I groaned, spreading my feet into a fighting stance, still pushing Tammy back.

 _"Arachnid."_ Bruce corrected, as if it was even remotely relevant right now. I ignored him.

The spider hissed and charged me. I wasn't expecting it to be so fast. I jumped forward to tackle it, but it jumped as well and hit me first, knocking me down. I caught the sides of its massive head just before its teeth sank into my skin. I had to use both hands just to keep in away from my face. Kicking straight up, I knocked the snarling spider back towards the ravine.

It hissed again and shot a blobs of silk at me, which hit me in the face, blinding me temporarily.  Blindly, I reached out and grabbed one of the beasts legs and tore it from its body.

The spider shrieked and staggered backwards.

I tore the webbing from my eyes, growling. I used the spiders moment of distraction to hit it with its own leg, sending it crashing into the far wall and tumbling back into the darkness. However, as it flew back, one of its flailing legs struck my head, knocking the flower from behind my ear and sent it tumbling down as well.

"Crap!" I said, dropping the leg and making a grab for the falling plant, but it was too late. The flower disappeared into the darkness.

Tammy shrieked and ran for the edge of the cliff. I caught her before she could reach it.

"NO!" she cried, struggling against my grip and reaching for the cliff.

"Kid, it's _gone_." I insisted. I turned her to look at me. "It's gone." I said again.

Tears of grief and rage welled in her eyes. "You promised..." she whispered, then pushed away from me.

"You promised!" this time she yelled it.

"I know.  I know I promised but--" I stammered.

Tammy only looked at me with contempt before turning around and running behind a tree sized mushroom.

"Tammy..." I said and followed her. "I don't understand. Why is it so important to you?"

I tried to approach her but she ran around to the other side of the mushroom's stalk

"Listen, I'm sorry I lost your flower." I said.

She continued to use the mushroom to keep distance from me, making sure she was always on the opposite side of the trunk as me.

"But you can pick another one." I bargained, smiling weakly. "With your mom this time. Like you used to, right?"

"No I can't!" Tammy insisted. "I never can!" She sobbed, crumpling to the ground and pulling her knees to her chest.

"I don't understand." I said, still smiling, trying to be reassuring. "Why not?"

 _"Hulk..."_ Bruce urged softly.

My face fell as the pieces fell into place.

"Oh..."I breathed. I leaned against the stalk on the opposite side as her and sat down.

For a long moment, there was only the sounds on Tammy's sobs.

"...Mine too." I said at last.

Tammy didn't respond, but her sobs quieted a bit.

"How'd it happen?" I asked. "You're mom, I mean."

She was silent and I immediately regretted the question. It was too personal. I should have stayed out of it. I should have let Bruce talk to her. I should hav--

"She got sick." Tammy whispered, jarring my out of my thoughts. "Last year...around _Christmas_." her voice broke as she spoke.

"No-nobody will t-talk to me about her a-any-m-more. They just look s-sad and say they're _s-sorry_. Nobody talks about the fl-flowers anymore." she continued.  "A-and I heard somebody t-tell my daddy that it's good that I'm-that I'm so l-little." She could barely speak through her tears. "'C-cus I won't remember her so good. Bu-but I-I want to remember her! I do-don' w-wanna forget!"

I couldn't see her from where I was sitting, but I could hear her sobs become muffled as she covered her face with her hands.

I closed my eyes.

"I wasn't much older than you when my mom was...when she..." I took a shaky breath. "...when she...passed on."

Tammy's sobs didn't falter.

"And, I know...when you...when you lose someone close, you feel like that pain, that sadness...is all you'll ever feel. That it'll never go away." I bit my bottom lip, still struggling for words. I shifted my position slightly closer to her.

"And-and....in a way, you don't want it to. Like, if you stopped hurting, you'd lose them forever. Like that pain...is all you have left of them." I shifted over again.

"But it isn't. Those memories you have of them, that's what stays with you." I continued, my own voice becoming shaky. "Those things like songs and smiles and...flowers. The happiness they gave you, that's what stays when the pain fades, at least a little. And--" I struggled to control my cracking voice. "Tha-that's what they'd want you to have, I think. Not all that sadness. I--" I bit my tongue to fight back the tears in my eyes.

My face burned with embarrassment.  I'd never talked to anyone about Bruce's mother, not even Bruce. Especially not Bruce. Yet now I was spilling my most personal feelings to someone I didn't even know, and I knew Bruce could hear all of it. Listening and judging in his sickly sympathetic way.

I looked over as something brushed against my arm to see that Tammy had closed the distance between us.

"Do you still think about her?" she asked quietly.

I hesitated and took a deep breath.  I turned to face her.

"Every day." I said at last.

I gave her a weak smile.

She looked as though she was going to return the smile but then her eyes suddenly widened in terror. She gasped and pulled back.

I tried to turn around but I was too late. Two huge fangs sunk into my right shoulder and three furry legs wrapped around me.

I cried out in pain, the venom burning in my blood and dissolving my flesh around the bite.

I stood up sharply, trying to throw the spider off of my back, but it held fast, its fangs sinking deeper into my shoulder. Its legs wrapped around me held my arms down and its other free legs pulled us backwards, towards the cliff edge.

The attack had taken me by surprise and I was still trying to get my bearings. The spider took advantage of my disorientation and pulled sharply backwards.

I took an involuntary step back, only to have my foot find no purchase, plummeting into empty space. With a roar of effort, I broke out of the arachnid's grip. Its teeth tore a chunk of flesh out of my shoulder as they were pulled away.

I flailed my arms in an attempt to balance myself but it was no use. I tumbled backwards, falling into the dark pit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that the surprise about Tammy's mother is actually a surprise. I laid on the foreshadowing pretty thick in the last chapter.  
> I also hope that I write Tammy convincingly for what her age is supposed to be. I don't really like when people write kids as being really dumb or only ever referring to people as "Mr" or "Ms" such and such and saying they "wuv" thing and basically any of the super overused cliches that people use when writing kids so I really avoided that, but I worry I may have made her a bit too mature in her speech. 
> 
> I feel like I've ended too many chapters on cliff-hangers here, but otherwise I have a hard time figuring out when a chapter should end.


	5. Ascent

As I fell, I grabbed one of the spiders legs and dragged it down with me. The landing came sooner and softer than I had expected. I fell into a sticky net of what I could only assume was webbing. It was pitch dark and I had left the mushroom  I'd been using as a torch up above. I tore myself away from the web to sit up, my hands fumbling to find the wall or any other point of reference to help me orient myself.

My fingers ran across the shape of a familiar object, which I quickly pulled out of the web and stuffed it into one of the pouches on my belt.

My ears perked up as a quiet scuttling  noise grew closer. With the echo of the ravine, it was almost impossible to tell what direction it was coming from.  I swung my arm out to try to strike the spider but a sharp, searing pain from another bite surged through my hand. I did not pull my hand back, though. Instead I lunged out, grabbing what I assumed to be its head with the hand that wasn't currently enclosed in the spider's jaws.  

The spider flailed frantically, trying to escape my grasp, but I held fast. I tore the beasts fangs out of my hand and swung the spider around with great force. I felt it collide with the wall of the ravine, sending a great tremor through the surrounding stone.

 I used my now freed hand to crush the spider's head. The giant arachnid flailed for a moment more, then grew limp and still.  Once I was sure it was dead, I let go of it and let it slump down into the net of webbing.  I rubbed my wounded hand. The bite wasn't nearly as severe as the one on my shoulder, and it was already beginning to heal.

I heaved myself upwards, struggling to find my balance on the web. Once I steadied myself, I launched myself upwards, tearing the remaining web off of me as I jumped. I misjudged the distance a bit, coming up short, but I was able to grab onto the ledge and pull myself up.

Immediately, something touched me, grabbing onto my arm. I tensed, readying for another fight, then realized it was Tammy.

She clung tightly to my arm, crying.

"Ah!" I exclaimed, quickly examining her for wounds. "Are you alright? Did it bite you? Are you hurt?" I clamored.

 Tammy shook her head and nuzzled into my arm. "You're ok!" she exclaimed. "I thought it ate you!"

I blinked, confused.  She was...worried? About me?

I laughed nonchalantly. "What, that thing? Eat me? Please. I'm indestructible, remember?"

She let go, smiling weakly, then she let out a small gasp.

"You're hurt!" she cried.

I looked at my shoulder, which had two large puncture wounds in it. It was already starting to heal, but the venom would slow it down.

"This?" I said, waving my hand dismissively. "It's nothing. I don't even feel it."

It was a lie, but there was no need for her to be worrying about me.

"You sure?" she asked meekly.

"Positive." I assured. "Hey, and guess what? I have something for you..."

I pulled the thing I'd found in the dark out of my belt pouch.

Tammy's eyes lit up.

"My flower!" she cried, excitedly. "But how?"

"I made a promise, didn't I?" I asked. "And I don't go back on my promises. "

She smiled.

"I think I'd better hold on to it for now, though." I said. "Just to be safe."  

She nodded, and I put the flower back into my belt pouch.  As I did, a tremor shook the cavern violently. I crouched down to shield Tammy from any falling rocks.  A huge chuck of the wall adjacent to us exploded outward, revealing the cause of the tremor.

The side of the enormous worm from earlier could be seen through the new opening, moving rapidly upwards. After a few moments, the tail of the worm passed by as well. The worm passed out of sight.  I waited another minute for the shaking to stop completely before standing up again.

"Moves fast for something so big." I commented. "Stay here for a sec." I ordered Tammy.

I went to check out the resulting tunnel. Looking down through the whole in the wall, I could see only darkness but, looking up, I could clearly see a circle of light, far above.

I leaned back out of the hole and grinned.  I walked back over to Tammy.

"I think we just found our ticket out of here." I said, rubbing my hands together. "It looks like our segmented friend has dug a path right to the surface."

I paused for a moment.

"But I can't carry you if I'm climbing..." I said, more to myself than Tammy.  I thought for a moment.

"Ah-ha!" I chimed. "Wait here."

I jumped down into the spider's pit and returned a moment later with a bundle of spider web.

I wasn't as good with my hands as Bruce, but I managed to fashion a makeshift harness out of the sticky cord.

"What is it?" Tammy asked.

"It's a harness....backpack...thing." I shrugged. "You know, people use them to carry kids."

She eyed the harness warily. "It doesn't look like one."

I folded my arms. "Listen, kid, my working conditions are not ideal here."

"I'm not a baby." she said, folding her arms as well. "I don't need a baby backpack."

"It wouldn't matter if you were five or twenty five, kid." I said. "You wouldn't be able to hold onto me for the whole climb. Your arms would get tired."

Tammy still pouted, but seemed satisfied enough by my explanation. She let me put her in the harness and I lifted it onto my shoulders. It seemed to hold her weight well enough.

She faced forward in the harness so she could put her head on my shoulder if she got tired and could grab onto me in case the harness gave out.

I was honestly a little proud of my design.

I peeked out into the tunnel to make sure it was clear.

"Can you really climb all the way up there?" Tammy asked.

I pointed to myself. "Strongest one there is." I reminded her.

I hopped to the opposite side of the tunnel and grabbed onto the wall. The rock had plenty of facets and it wasn't hard to hand and foot holds. Plus, if need be, I could always just punch a new one into the wall.  I began climbing

"Why?" Tammy asked inquisitively, after a about a minute.

"Why what?" I responded.

"Why are you the strongest there is?" she clarified.

"Well," I said, smiling wryly. "Usually one gains that title by being stronger than everybody else."

"But _why_ though?"

"Why am I so strong? I...uh...I don't actually understand the exact science of it, to tell the truth, but it has something to do with radiation and...super soldier....stuff" Bruce had explained the science of it to me before but science wasn't really my strong suit.

"Oh!" Tammy chimed brightly. "Like Cap'n America?" she asked.

"Erm...not so much..."I mumbled, uncomfortable at the comparison. I was no Captain America, that was for sure.

"More like...Godzilla." I said.

"Who?"

I chuckled. "That might be a bit before your time." I said.

"Why are you green?"

"I'm part plant." I deadpanned.

"Really?"

"No."

Tammy giggled.  "You're silly." she laughed.

"Again, you may be the only one who feels that way, kid." I chuckled. "Most people think I'm more scary than scary than funny. Maybe it's a kid thing." I smiled.

"What about your kids?" Tammy asked "Do they think you're funny?"

"Huh? Oh no no." I laughed. "I don't...I don't have any kids."

"Why not?"

"I...eh...haven't really had the desire to have any." I said, shrugging, then added "Or the opportunity, really..."

"Huh?"

"Well, for one I've kinda been on the move for a while and I...uh...don't think I...can have kids..." I was starting to regret this conversation.

"Why not?" Tammy asked.  "Is there no mommy?"

"Ah-no I-- I have a ...uh...I...I have...a girlfriend. I mean, sort of." It felt uncomfortable to refer to Betty like that. She was Bruce's girlfriend, really, not mine.  

"It's not that it's..." I realized I was blushing. "Monsters just can't have kids, ok? Ones like me, at least." I said. It was close enough to the truth.

"Oh..." Tammy said, sounding sad. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be!" I said quickly. "It's no loss. I don't want kids anyway." Now I was severely regretting this conversation. I prayed silently that she wouldn't try to continue it.

"Why not?" she asked, to my dismay.

"You're sounding like a broken record there, kid." I said, probably a bit more harshly than was necessary. "I just don't so let's just drop it, ok?"

"Oh. Ok...." Tammy said softly.

The rest of the climb passed in mostly silence. As we neared the top, I could smell fresh air.

"Hold tight." I said, and launched myself up the remaining thirty or so feet to the opening, grabbing the ledge and hoisting us out.

Standing in the afternoon sun, I stretched and held my palms up to the sky.

"Sun!" I sighed. "I missed you, friend."

I looked next to the tunnel we'd emerged from to see a similar tunnel a few dozen yards away. "Looks like that's where the worm got off to." I noted.

"Whoa..." Tammy marveled. "You can jump _high_!"

"Hmm? That?" I smirked. "That was nothing. Hold on tight and check this out!"

Tammy squeezed tight around my neck.

I jumped, sending us shooting up into the air. We soared for nearly a block before slamming back down onto the ground. The earth under my feet shook from the impact.

It suddenly occurred that being strapped to the back of someone who just jumped a city block in a single bound might be harmful to children under ten.  I mentally kicked myself.

"You ok back there?" I asked, craning my neck to see her.

Tammy broke out into a fit of giggles.

"That was AMAZING!" she cried. "Again! Again!" she begged.

I smiled widely. "Alright." I agreed. "One more time!"

I jumped again, this time a bit shorter distance, just in case. The pavement cracked underneath my feet as I landed.

Tammy was still giggling. "Again!" she yelled.

"I think that's enough." I said. "We need to find your dad. Get you home."

"Hey!" Tammy exclaimed, pointing. "I know that place! That's my day-care! Let me down!" She squirmed against the harness.

"Alright, hold on." I said, and slipped the carrier off my back. I had to tear the sticky webbing apart to get it off her. Some of the thinner white threads were still stuck in her hair but she didn't seem to mind. She took off in the direction of the colorful day-care building. It was amazing that she still had so much energy after the events of the day.  I found that I was smiling despite myself.

 _"I've never seen you like this."_ Bruce commented.

My eyes narrowed. "Like what?" I demanded.

 _"Happy."_ he replied simply.

I tried to give a sarcastic comeback but found I couldn't come up with one. I did feel...happy.

I scowled.

"If you breathe a _word_ of any of this to the team..." I threatened.

 _"No no."_ Bruce assured. _"Of course not. I understand."_

I caught up with Tammy, who was peering into the day-care window. "Come look!" she called. "We made paper hearts!"

"That's nice, but we still need to find your dad." I reminded. "Or a police station or something."

Tammy didn't seem to hear me. She grabbed my hand and tried to pull me forward. "Come look at the playground! We have swings and a tater totter!" she insisted.

I smirked at the mispronunciation  and allowed myself to be pulled along.  "Alright." I relented. "Then we gotta go."

The gate surrounding the small play area had collapsed due to the tremors, so we were able to walk in with no hindrance. Tammy insisted on showing me which swing was her favorite and explaining why. I wasn't really paying attention. I was surveying our surroundings for any sign of worms or any other of the creepy crawlies from underground that might have crawled their way to the surface.  

I was on edge. The ground had been shaking occasionally, but it was hard to tell if it was getting more intense or if the intervolves were getting closer together. It was making the hair on the back of my neck stand up--

**BEEP! BEEP!**

The beeping noise nearly made me just out of my skin. I flailed around to find the source of the sound until I realized it was coming from my pocket. I slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand, angry at my own stupidity.

My I.D. card! It would have started working again as soon as we'd reached the surface, maybe even sooner. I scrambled to pull the small plastic card from my pocket. I pressed down the communication button. I stepped away from the playground to take the call.

"Hello?" I said, holding the card in front of my face.

Static buzzed for a second, then Tony's voice cut in. "Hulk! Where the _heck_ have you been? Your I.D. has been out of range for hours!"

"It's a long story." I said. The sound of worm screaming and explosions came from Tony's side of the call.

"What's going on there?" I asked.

Clint's voice cut into the conversation.

"Is that you, Jade Jaws?" he demanded "Because Mole-Face here is putting up a fight. So any time you feel like _showing up._ "

"On my way." I said, then glanced back a Tammy. "Uh...but I might need a minute..."

If either of them responded, I didn't hear it. I had been distracted by the call and hadn't noticed the shaking in the ground getting more intense until an enormous tremor knocked me off my feet. My I.D. card flew out of my hand.

With an earsplitting "CRACK", the giant worm burst from the ground, less than a hundred feet from me. I scrambled to my feet.

Why was it here? Of all the places it could be, why was it always around me? It was like it was following me--

Suddenly it hit me. Vibrations. I'd said it myself. These worms relied on vibrations to find their way, and  I had been practically setting off mini earthquakes all day. My jumping must have lead it here.

Damn it! My showing off like an idiot had lead it right to me and Tamm--

My heart went still for a solid beat.

**Tammy**

"TAMMY!" I called, looking around frantically for the small girl.

The worm's massive head slammed to the ground with tremendous force next to me. I barely had time to get out of the way.

"TAMMY!" I cried again, my heart was pounding in my chest and I began to panic.

I heard a whimpering coming from the play ground area. I sprinted over to it. Tammy was crouched under one of the picnic tables, shaking and curled into a ball, her eyes squeezed shut.

I lifted the table and threw it to the side.

Tammy shrieked, curling up even further.

"It's ok!" I said. "It's me!"

Tammy opened her eyes. "Hulk!" she cried.

She stood up and hugged me tightly. I lifted her into my arms.

"Hold on to me." I ordered.

 

I bent my legs to jump, but thought better of it. Jumping again would just call the worms attention. I opted for running.

My thunderous footfalls were still enough to alert the worm, apparently. It started to slither slowly after us, tearing up the ground as it moved. Its interlocking jaws opened to let out a loud screech. I sped up, but the worm was gaining speed as well. 

I was suddenly all too aware of each of my heavy footsteps. I couldn't outrun it as long as it could follow them. Even if I managed to get a good distance from it, it would just keep finding us.

If I was just lighter, I could lose it, at least long enough to put Tammy somewhere safe.

If only I--

Wait a second.

"Bruce!" I exclaimed. "Tag out!"

I exhaled sharply and Switched. Bruce and I could Switch almost instantaneously now, but it was still a strain on our body, especially in a full sprint.

\--

I nearly fell over when I took control. De-Hulking was draining to begin with, without having a child in my arms and moving far faster than my human legs would ever normally be able to carry me. I stumbled, but managed to right myself.  I was considerably slower than Hulk, but I hoped that the worm would be thrown off enough by the change that it would make up for. That was what I figured the plan was, at least. Hulk hadn't actually deemed it necessary to fill me in on his thought process before tagging out.

 _"RUN!"_ Hulk commanded from inside my head, as if that was remotely necessary right now.

"You don't have to tell me that!" I huffed.

Hulk had most likely not noticed the broken glass and sharp rocks littering the street, but I certainly did. I could feel my bare feet being sliced open with every step. I bit my lip and kept running. My limbs ached, screaming in protest, but I did not stop.

 _Everything will heal as soon as I Hulk out again._ I told myself. _Just keep running._

I took a sharp turn at an intersection. The switch seemed to have confused the worm. It charged past the street I'd turned onto. It slowed to a stop and shifted back and forth, trying to determine what had happened to the footsteps it had been following.

Even being so much smaller than Hulk, my footsteps still seemed to be detectable. The worm slowly started to turn in our direction. Still, the switch had given me enough time to get Tammy to a safe location, or at least as close to one as I was going to find. I put her down in an open park-like area where I felt confident enough that nothing would fall and crush her.

I glanced over my shoulder at the worm before turning to face Tammy. She was looking at me with wide eyes, in disbelief.

"Who...who're you?" she asked, pulling away from me. "What'd you do with Hulk?" She looked afraid.

I gave her a small smile. "It's me." I said. "Bruce."

"...Bruce?" she whispered, obviously still confused.

"There's no time to explain." I said quickly. "Just stay here and don't move, ok?"

She nodded, still looking wary of me.

I turned back to the worm. It was still a good distance from the two of us. Then, I  glanced back quickly to Tammy one last time.

"Oh," I said "And my favorite color is blue."

Tammy's eyes widened in understanding and wonder. I smiled, then took off toward the worm again.

One I was a few yards away, I took a quick, deep breath, drawing upon the ever present pool of rage within me and Switched.

\--

Once I reached my full size again, I wasted no time jumping into the air. I landed hard on the worms back, slamming my fists down onto its hard outer shell. It splintered slightly inwards, but it didn't seem to have much of an effect.

The worm screeched again and lurched upwards, throwing me off of its back, but I was prepared for it this time and landed on my feet. I immediately launched myself forward for another punch. I hit the same spot dead on, cracking it further.  I figured the shell was the worm's main defense. If I could pierce it, the worm's soft innards would be exposed. That was the plan anyway.

It was a sound plan and the worm's attacks were predictable enough. Dodging them would normally be no problem, but my movements were sluggish.

I'd been out all day, excluding the past few frantic minutes, and the rapid fire transformations had taken it out of me as well. Being in my own form was admittedly draining, especially when constantly fighting and when going without food as long as I had. I was running on empty. Most of all, I just wasn't angry.

I was just tired.

My third jump was just a second too slow. Just as my feet left the ground, the worm slammed into me, knocking me into the side of a building. Glass and debris spill down onto me.

It's jaws lunged out, trying to close around me, but I caught them at the last moment. I strained to keep the rows of  sharp teeth from sinking into my flesh. With a growl of effort, I managed to throw the worm to the side, but, as I did, my right hand slipped for just a moment.

It was enough.

Several of the worms knife-like teeth sunk into my already wounded shoulder and, as the worm was thrown back, tore out a chunk of my shoulder with them.

I cried out in agony, clasping my other hand over the wound. Green blood gushed out between my fingers. I grit my teeth against the pain.

The worm seemed dazed from being thrown, but was quickly getting its bearings.

I couldn't take another hit right now. I needed time. I kept as still as I could, praying for just a few more moments.

If I could just stay perfectly stay. If it just wouldn't find me for just a bit longer. If I had enough time for my healing factor to kick in. If the bleeding would just stop.

If if if.

 The worm started slithering towards me again. It couldn't be sure of exactly where I was, since I'd stopped moving. The falling debris also seemed to be throwing it off. It would find me soon enough though. There just wasn't enough time.

The worm turned to face directly at me.

I closed my eyes and braced myself.

"HULK!" cried a shrill voice.

My blood ran cold.

"No..." I whispered.

I turned my head to see Tammy's tiny form running towards me. "Hulk!" she cried again.

"Tammy no!" I screamed. "Don't run!"

But it was too late.

Even her tiny footsteps were enough to catch the attention of the worm. With a great shriek, the worm opened its jaws and lunged at her. I saw the expression in her eyes turn from concern to terror in the split second before she disappeared into its gaping maw.

The world seemed to screech to a halt.

She was gone. She was gone.

And _I_ had led it to her. It was my fault. My fault.

I was supposed to _protect her_. I promised I _proMISED SHE WAS GONE AND IT WAS MY FAULT MY FAULT._

I felt an all too familiar rage welling within me. A mix of rage and self hatred and consumed every part of me.

 _TOld her NO T TO MOVE. It_ TOOK her  it TOOK HER. I'd kill it I'd TEAR IT APART I 'D SMASH IT!

I let out a deafening roar and charged the beast. All the weariness I had felt evaporated in the fire of my rage. I grabbed onto one the worms interlocking jaws and tore it clean off. Blood gushed from the wound, spilling all over me.

The worm screamed and pulled upwards sharply to try to throw me off again, but I held fast. I pried the other jaws open.

"GIVE. GIRL. BACK!" I roared.

The worm struggled to close its jaws, but its strength was nothing compared to mine in my rage consumed state. I threw the jaws open and, without a moment's hesitation, jumped into its cavernous mouth.  

Inside of the worm was dark and hot, but I didn't care. As I fell, a high pitched screaming caught my attention. I punched my hand through the worm's side to form a hand hold and stop my descent. Light only came down in flashes as the worm opened and closed its mouth, but, in the brief moments of light, I spotted a miraculous sight below me.

The piece of outer shell that I'd punched in earlier had jutted inwards, forming a small "ledge" in the worms throat. By some miracle, Tammy had managed to grab on to it. She screamed again.

"Hold on!" I yelled. "Hulk coming!"

I let go of my handhold and dropped down onto the ledge. The force of my landing, combined with the worms resulting shudder of pain, caused Tammy to lose her grip. She screamed, eyes wide with fear, her grasping at the air.

I grabbed her outstretched hand and pulled her up into my arms.

"Hold on to Hulk." I ordered.

I then punched the weakened shell with all my might. The worm's wounded carapace provided no resistance. I punched clean through, sending blood, tissue, and large fragments of shell flying outwards. Jumping through the newly formed hole, I put as much distance between myself and the worm as I could manage. When I landed,  I turned to face the creature again, holding Tammy to my chest protectively.

The worm roared loudly. I roared louder and more ferociously in response.

The worm raised itself up one last time, as if to try to attack again, then fell with a great "thud" to the ground, dead.

I put Tammy down and knelt to look at her.

"Girl ok?" I grunted. "Hulk save?"

Tammy shrank back from me, looking scared. The fog of rage in my mind began to clear. I shook my head vigorously to clear my thoughts.

"Tammy." I said, my ability to speak correctly returning as my rage subsided. "Are you alright?"

I reached out for her, but she pulled away from my touch.

My heart felt like it hit the floor. I put my hand down.

She was afraid of me.

Any why shouldn't she be? I realized how I must have looked to her, covered in blood and tearing a living thing apart, roaring like an animal.

Like a monster.

"Sorry..for scaring you." I whispered, turning my head away from her. "Like I said, I'm...I'm more scary than funny..."

Suddenly, something happened that I did not expect. Tammy threw her arms around me as best she could and hugged me.

I froze, unsure of what to do. Then, I slowly relaxed and wrapped my arms around her as well, gently as if she were made of stained glass. My heart felt like it would swell out of my chest.

After a long moment, the embrace ended and I stood back up.

"You alright, then?" I asked.

Tammy gave me an annoyed look. "You didn't tell me Bruce was real!" she said, accusingly.

I chuckled. "Yeah, well I'm not sure if that makes me seem more or less crazy--oh shit!" I exclaimed. "I forgot about Bruce!"

I ignored Tammy's scolding of my swear and reached out to Bruce's part of our mind.

 _"TAMMY!"_ he cried, as he came to. _"Is she--?"_

"She's fine." I assured.

_"I blacked out when you--"_

"Yeah... Sorry."

_"Then she's..?"_

"Yeah."

Bruce sighed in relief. _"Thank God."_ he breathed.

"Yeah." I agreed again.

"Hulk!" a voice yelled from above.

I looked up to see Iron Man descending from the sky.

"There you are!" he called. "Your com went dead." He glanced at the worm carcass. "Huh. Three guesses why..." he said. "Good job, big guy."

I huffed. "What happened to Mole-Man?" I asked.

"In S.H.I.E.L.D custody." He replied. "Fight wasn't the same without you, buddy, but we managed somehow." He looked around me to see Tammy.

"Hellooooo." he said. "Who's this?"

I looked back for a moment as well. Tammy waved, smiling.

"She's lost." I explained. "She needs to find her father." I didn't feel the need to give Tony any more explanation than that.

"He's probably at the evac site with the rest of them." Tony said. "We can regroup with the rest of the team there."

I nodded and turned to pick up Tammy.

"Don't worry about it, buddy. I got the kid." Tony laughed.

"Oh...Yeah. Of course." I said.

Tammy was very excited to fly with _the_ Iron Man. I followed along, hopping from rooftop to rooftop. I found myself annoyed by Tony's incessant need to show off.

He'd deemed it necessary to do a number or aerial tricks while holding Tammy. I suppressed my growing desire to punch him across the jaw. Tony's ego was often the cause of my distress.

We reached the evacuation site in only a few minutes. The rest of the team was already there.

Tammy gave her name and information to a police officer who contacted her father. The sun was beginning to set in the sky.  The officer explained that they'd handle the rest. Clint suggested we leave.

"I only managed to accomplish one thing today." I said, arms crossed and voice flat. "I'm making sure it gets done."

While we waited for Tammy's father to arrive, I explained where I'd been. I told the team how Tammy and I had spent the majority of the day trapped underground. Tony was especially interested in this subterranean world and immediately started making plans for a full expedition.  While Tony rambled on about the possible science behind this "Subterranea", I heard someone shout.

"Tammy!" they cried.

Tammy's head shot up. "Daddy!" she yelled excitedly.

A man,  presumably Tammy's father, ran over to her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Oh baby girl! I thought I lost you!" Tears of joy rolled down his cheeks. "Let's go home, baby. We'll make pork chops for dinner. Your favorite, right?" he paused. "Honey, why are you all wet?" he asked.

"I got eated by a worm!" Tammy said excited.

Her father blinked, eyes wide. "We'll...we'll get you cleaned up when we get home."

Suddenly I remembered something.

"Hey, kid!" I called. "Hang on a sec!"

I hurried over to her. Her father stared, wide eyed at me, trying to push Tammy behind him protectively, but she wiggled out of his grasp.

"Hulk!" she beamed. "Daddy, this is Hulk! He saved me!" she explained.

Her father seemed flabbergasted.

I grinned sheepishly, suddenly very aware of both Tammy and my disheveled appearances.    I cleared my throat and kneeled down.

"Anyway, kid. I think you're forgetting something." I said. I opened the pouch on my belt, gently pulling out her flower.

"I made a promise, didn't I?" I smiled.

Tammy took the flower from my hand, beaming.

I stood up again and nodded once to her father.

"Thank you." he said, still looking scared, but earnest.

I nodded again and turned to leave, but a small hand on my arm held me back. I turned back.

Tammy held the flower out to me. It took me a moment to understand.

Casting a hesitant glance at the team, I kneeled down again.

"Tammy..."I said. "I can't take this. What about your mom?"

Tammy's smile didn't fade. "I think..."she said. "She would want you to have it."

I didn't know what to say. I took the flower from her hand, handling it gingerly like the priceless treasure that it was.

"Thank you." I whispered.

Tammy smiled at me one last time, and turned back to her father. He picked her up and they began to walk away. I stood and watched for a moment.

"What was that about?" Steve asked, now standing next to me.

I cleared my throat. "Nothing." I said dismissively. "Just a thank you for saving her I guess."

"Yeesh." Hawkeye moaned. "And I thought civi evac was bad! Sorry you got stuck babysitting during the big fight, Jade Jaws." he said. "I know you really wanted to sock Mole Man once 'cross the face."

I looked again at Tammy and her father, then to the flower in my own hand. An ache pulled at my heart that was both familiar and unplaceable.

"Well..." I said slowly. "I don't every time...get what I want."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all folks! This is my first big fic like this so I'm impressed I even finished it.
> 
> Sorry this chapter took so long, but it's more than twice the size of the others so I think that makes up for it a bit.
> 
> Hopefully the perspective switch between Hulk and Bruce wasn't too confusing. I also considered changing the format to third person perspective during Hulk's freak out, but ultimately decided against it for the sake on consistency (plus I don't really like writing in that very limited third person style that Hulk speaks in)


End file.
